Equivalent
by hslhfadsbvhkjdsfdas
Summary: Returning to a hew year at Hogwarts, the gang find a new student, and a new branch of magic. Hermione finds a rival, and maybe more? OCHR. M for later chapters.
1. Fire

It had been a long summer. Warm days and cool nights seemed to stretch forever as students enjoyed their break. Being free was calming, but to some, summer was more stressful than ever. In the midst of a lazy summer day, one house in the neighbourhood was busy with the hustle and bustle of a new family moving in. A normal family, or so it would seem from the outside. However, the family had a secret; a knowledge that most of the common world had no knowledge of. They had access to a limitless supply of power, one that a normal mortal would kill to be able to tap into. Yes, these people were wizards and witches, and damn good ones, too.

But even wizards and witches get tired of the world of magic; so in a stroke of brilliance (or idiocy) the parents of this household decided to forego living in the realm of magic and decided to settle down a quiet town of Dundas. The sleepy settlement had citizens who kept to themselves and didn't welcome outsiders very kindly, which suited the family just fine. They're business didn't require friends, and they treated the townspeople as they were treated themselves: nothing of importance.

At the head of the household were Nathan and Katherine, two accomplished alchemists for the ministry of magic, which they tried to pass down to their son, Matt. Being less than thrilled about his parent's lack of time for him, the boy expressed himself in his own little ways, making miniaturized models out of scraps of metal, studying philosophy of magic, and experimenting in countless hours in the art of offensive alchemy.

Alchemy in the wizarding world was an offshoot of the school of magic known as potions. Many accomplished wizards were also alchemists, such as Nicholas Flamel, and the infamous headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. The principle behind magical alchemy that for whatever one wanted to create, something of equal value had to be given up. Matt could fashion pretty much whatever he wanted, if he found the materials that made that object up. The only tools he needed would be his wand and his imagination.

Stepping out of the Ministry's issued automobile, Matt stood up and observed his new home. A fairly new, two level home with a fresh coat of paint and a garage, Matt couldn't help but feel nostalgia for his former house, almost an hour away from Diagon Alley, where he could be sure to find whatever he needed for his experiments. As he looked to his left, he saw a teenager around his age looking at him curiously. At that moment, a feeling of dread and anxiety hit him as he realised that this year he would be transferring schools from his parent's tutors to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Attending an evaluation session a month before, he had managed to have received an audience with his hero, Dumbledore. After being asked to perform a series of test charms, spells, and potions, the elder wizard had deemed him worthy to enter Hogwart's for the coming school year. Being sixteen, Matt had missed a lot of the experience of being a teenager, but had a few friends that he had to leave behind when he moved. He was comfortable around those people, and valued their companionship. They had made his parents' often absence less of a bother.

"Son, could you help me with the bags?" muttered Nathan, obviously struggling with the family's belongings.

"Why old man, afraid to break a hip?" Matt shot back with a smirk. His father and him had a good relationship, and Matt understood how much Nathan and Katherine's careers meant to them. He tried to help whenever he was needed, but couldn't resist poking fun at his old man every once and awhile.

"Yeah yeah, my hip's got more strength in it that you have in your skinny body, boy."

Matt chuckled as he grabbed two suitcases out of the trunk of the car, where two more bags appeared out of what seemed to be thin air.

"_Magic cars. Got to love them."_ Matt thought to himself.

Walking into the house, he could hear his footsteps reverberate off the hardwood floors, echoing off the high ceilings. A letter had been left just inside the door, as if it had just been pushed through the mail slot that morning. Matt noticed, however, that there was no mail slot in the door.

"_Wizard mailmen. Got to hate them."_ He added. Since his family's owl Ajax was not familiarized with the new home yet, the ministry had set them up with a temporary mail service in the meantime. Pocketing the letter quickly, he decided to save it for later as he dropped off the suitcases and moved aside as his mother carried in a pile of oak wood. After a few more trips, all of the luggage had been been brought in, such as the furnishings for two bedrooms, a living room, and the bathrooms. All that was left was the kitchen.

Katherine has brought in the pile of wood for a reason, concentrating and gripping her wand, she muttered a single phrase: "_Transmuto…"_

With this, a burst of light erupted from the pile of wood, and when it had subsided, a chair and table set stood where the pile of wood once lay. This was how alchemy worked. The potential to make anything the heart desired, with only a little imagination. Katherine and Nathan had tried to pass on to Matt that the mind was stronger than the wand, for this was true in every sense of the phrase.

Matt entered his new bedroom, exhausted. The day's work had taken a definite toll on him as moving was a strenuous activity. Plopping down onto his single bed, he looked up at his ceiling until he remembered the note in his pocket. Pulling it out, he unfolded the envelope and began to read the parchment that was enclosed. It read, in a very tidy scrawl;

* * *

_Mr Parker._

_Enclosed is the book list that will be needed for your coming year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your schedule has been arranged due to your talents presented to Headmaster Dumbledore. You will be expected to arrive at Platform 9 and ¾ at King's Cross Station. From there you will depart on the Hogwart's Express to Hogwart's Castle, where you will be sorted into a house depending on your merits. Below is your schedule. We look forward to your attendance._

_-Minerva McGonagall__Potions 6th year._ _Tranfiguration 6th year._

_Charms 6th year._

_Alchemy _

_Arithmacy 6th year_

_Astonomy 6th year._

_Defense Against the Dark Arts 6th Year _

_Alchemy has been added to the curriculum this year, and will be available to students who wish to attend.

* * *

_

"Oh… great." Matt said with a sigh. Looking at his calendar beside his bed, he realised that there was only a few precious days left in the summer vacation; three to be precise.

"Just enough time to get to Diagon Alley and get my stuff… and say goodbye to the summer… Bah." Matt muttered again as he stood up and prepared to go to bed. Peeling off his t-shirt that he wore for moving, he looked in the mirror. His build was nothing out of the ordinary. Not too skinny, and not too built either; a peaceful medium that he was satisfied with. His mop of black hair on his head fell a bit in his face, as he adjusted his glasses covering his blue. For most of his life he had been compared in likeness to the infamous "boy who lived," Harry Potter. Unfortunately for him, being confused for a celebrity was not very flattering when people were disappointed you were not the "real deal."

_"Note to self: Get contacts tomorrow."_ Matt thought to himself as he turned off the lights, leaving his jeans on as he covered himself in his bedspread and fell asleep silently, dreaming of what would happen in the days to come.


	2. Wind

Dawn had broken over Diagon Alley, as the faint sound of a rooster crowing had caught the attention of a sleeping young witch. Largely regarded as the smartest of her year, Hermione Granger had little trouble with any problem; at least ones of educational matter. As she opened her eyes she let out a long sigh as she buried her head in her pillow. Hermione had been feeling a bit strange lately. It was a mix of being disappointed at her failed long distance relationship with Bulgarian seeker Victor Krum, and being cooped up in the Leaky Cauldron for the past month, as a result of her parents being on vacation.

Though she had made an effort to keep in touch with her friends Harry and Ron, Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness. She sat up in bed and looked to her night table, the last letter from Victor where she had left it. Hermione picked it up and held it to her heart, a small frown on her face as she unfolded it, falling back onto her pillow, reading it to herself.

* * *

_Hermione…_

_I hate to tell you this… but I don't think we're working. My home is in Bulgaria, yours in London. I fear the distance is putting doubts in my head that this will ever work out. I think it's best we see other people._

_Victor.

* * *

_

"_You always knew how to pick the winners, Hermione."_ She thought to herself as she folded it up and tossed it into her open trunk at the foot of her bed. Getting out of her bed lazily, Hermione stretched as she made her way to the washroom, drawing herself a nice hot bath and stripping herself of her sleeping garments. Letting out a soft moan of relief as the hot water caressed her tired muscles, Hermione couldn't help but lay back and enjoy the simple luxury that was being afforded right now.

"_Bah… Victor wasn't even anything special anyways…" _Hermione mused as she washed her curly chestnut hair. _"Wasn't a good kisser, wasn't a good talker, wasn't a good anything. You're better off without him, girl."_

She stopped for a second and couldn't help but laugh as she rinsed off her hair.

"_Great, now I'm talking to myself."_

After drying herself off, Hermione wrapped herself in a towel and dried off her hair, brushing it so that it wouldn't be the usual ball of frizz. Walking slowly back into her simple room on the upper level of the Leaky Cauldron bar and pub, she pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a Hogwart's-issue t-shirt. After slipping on a bra and thong (which she had taken a liking to recently), Hermione dressed herself for the busy day ahead: buying her school supplies.

The girl in Hermione loved the aspect of shopping for new things, but the bookworm that still resided in her wanted to get to Hogwarts. **Badly.** Upon hearing about the new Alchemy course being offered, she was very curious about the subject, but couldn't find any reading in any of the shops.

"_Guess it's something I'll have to learn first hand, I suppose…" _she commented as she put her hair up in a ponytail. Walking downstairs, she nodded to Tom, the owner of the pub.

"Morning, Tom. Anything interesting happen in the news today?"

"Nothing much, Miss Granger. Just the normal scares about those pranksters that have been going around. The opening of the Weasley boys' new joke shop's been a little bit of a hassle."

"Got to make a living somehow." Hermione added with a grin as she walked out the door.

Tom had been somewhat of a friend to her this last month, as no one else had visited her. Looking around, Hermione decided to pick herself up some new robes, as she had had a little growth spurt over the summer. Turning in the direction of Madam Malkin's, Hermione daydreamed as she walked down the ornate cobblestone of Diagon Alley.

* * *

Matt Parker had just stepped through the magical brick wall that had separated the magical world and the world of muggles for ages. Shaking his head, he was amazed at the intelligence of the people who could not figure out a hiding device as simple as this. "_Let's see what we've got here…"_ Matt thought to himself as he pulled out a folded page of parchment out of his pocket. Unfolding it, he began reading silently to himself as he walked forward, his eyes on the paper. "Hmmm… robes… books… cauldron…" Sadly, this prevented him from watching where he was going.

As luck would have it, where he stepped next would be where Hermione Granger would be stepping, with her head in the clouds. At the last moment, however, something caught Matt's attention, and a possible disaster was avoided. Instead of a collision of truly epic proportions, their shoulders merely brushed against each other, with both teens turning back a split second. As their eyes met, Matt couldn't help but grin a little as he half-whispered, "Sorry, my fault."

Hermione came out of her dream world with a start as she looked around semi-frantically, finding Matt's eyes and smiling back, saying "Don't worry about it" as she continued walking down the street. As he traveled further down the cobblestone street, Matt couldn't help but think to himself "Well, maybe the wizarding world DOES have some perks…"

After a quick laugh, Matt stopped inside the famous Flourish & Blotts for his school textbooks. After approaching a sales witch about the list, he found his money-purse a bit lighter, while his luggage had increased. "_So much for an easy year."_ Matt thought to himself as he skimmed through the pages of his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Curses, counter-curses, and various descriptions of evil creatures in the world dotted the pages as Matt continued looking. Finally putting the book down and into his trunk, he moved on to the next shop, with thoughts of horror filling his mind of the dreaded school uniforms.

After getting re-fitted for robes at Madame Malkin's, Hermione suddenly found herself with a bunch of spare time on her hands.

_"I guess getting this year's texts early for summer reading might not have been such a good idea now."_ She thought to herself as she strolled around Diagon Alley with her hands in her pockets. After much deliberation, Hermione decided to go back to her room in the Leaky Cauldron to kill the rest of the day the only way she knew how: reading. However, one thought persisted in the back of her head before being shoved out in favour of astronomy charts: that semi-cute boy who couldn't look where he was going.

* * *

A/N. Sorry for the excess/lack thereof of writing. This is a nightly project/venting thing, and I think I'll write however much/little I want thank you. Reviews would be amazing. I want to see what people think of my take on two characters in the Magical Universe that will culminate in a story I think most of you will love 


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